Glock-one in chamber or not?

I voted to Always keep a live round chambered. I do this, because I believe in the school of thought that an unloaded weapon is an expensive paper weight. Also, with proper dry fire practice, training, and repeated holstering drills, the muscle memory will ensure no AD. I have an XD, which affords me the added confidence of a grip safety, which I make sure not to depress during holstering moves. Regardless, I feel that a glock, which is comparable, should be chambered with confidence if the user is confident.

I always carry with a round in the chamber no matter what I'm carrying.

Take Care,
DFW1911

Don't own a Glock but the principle is the same...

If I'm carrying it (or it's in the fast access lockbox) there is one up the snout and for pretty much the same reasons I keep my seatbelt buckled if I'm in the car.

IF you need it, you need it with a round loaded and ready to go. IF you do not feel safe with a round loaded, then get another gun to carry.

(lets be real, a locked gun is useless)

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And not having it loaded and ready to go is useless as well.

If you aren't comfortable with keeping a round chambered in your Glock, then the Glock is not the correct weapon for you.

How do you plan to chamber a round if entering a hostile situation on the street - if you see a bunch of potential 'bad' guys down the street do you plan to duck behind a bush, pull out your gun, and rack it?

Maybe one of those NY springs that are heavier or a Comonilli (sp?) safety will work if you plan to keep the Glock.

There is nothing more useless than an unloaded gun.

If you aren't comfortable with keeping a round chambered in your Glock, then the Glock is not the correct weapon for you.

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Maybe one of those NY springs that are heavier or a Comonilli (sp?) safety will work if you plan to keep the Glock.

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I went through both of these thoughts in settling on a carry piece. For my personal carry situation, I wanted an external safety or else would not carry with one in the chamber (tried the NY1 - definitely harder pull, but still only 1/2in. compared to my long-pull DAO j-frame - carry the j in complete confidence).

I looked high and low for a subcompact automatic with an external safety that would compete with a G26 in terms of reliability and concealability. No luck. CZ 2075 RAMI was the closest, but its safety only works in Cocked-and-Locked mode. The HK USPc is too big. Beretta is supposedly coming out with a subcompact PX4 with safety, but you sweep it UP for fire mode - for me I don't want to go there - too much time logged on guns with "sweep down" for fire. That would screw with me under stress! Plus, though small, its reported dimensions are somewhat larger than G26/27.

Thus, my conclusion is that a Glock w/o a safety is fine if you are comfortable with it (not trying to convince anyone otherwise), but if you feel you must have a safety, at least in subcompact, a Glock 26/27 with Cominolli is still the best gun out there... I get LEO discount, so I'll have $525 in the gun with the safety (taking it to the Smith this afternoon).

One in the chamber with a safety compared to NOT carrying one in the chamber: having the safety seems the less onerous. Sweeping it off becomes automatic (and already is for me, from previous guns), and is accomplished with one hand (racking the slide is doable one handed but difficult).

To each his own - just sharing my thoughts...

To each his own but I always carry with one in the chamber no matter which gun I am carrying. In a stressful situation it's one last thing I have to worry about (although training negates this somewhat).
I also like what was wrote above about ducking behind a bush to chamber a round or better yet, having to ask a BG to wait one second while I chamber a round.

Simple....

I never carry the gun holstered with a live round in the chamber. This is due primarily to the relative light trigger pull of these models. I feel much "safer" against any accidental discharges as a result......

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Gun Safety Rule #2) ALWAYS keep your finger off the trigger until ready to shoot.

For me, owning a GLOCK has this rule screaming in my brain everytime I carry.
Lastly, there is no such thing as an Accidental discharge...if someone has one, then he/she is a numbskull.

I voted never. Guns kill people and loaded guns kill even more people. Much too dangerous. I even remove the triggers.



DOH!

While I have never carried a Glock, I vote with the "chambered round" group. As a LEO I normally carried a revolver, but when I carried an auto pistol it was always with the chamber loaded.

The idea that a non-LEO can or should carry chamber empty doesn't really fly. IMHO, a non-LEO may be MORE likely to have to use the gun in a hurry than a LEO. A uniformed officer is rarely attacked suddenly, where a civilian might be. For example, there are few carjackings of marked police cars or muggings of uniformed police officers.

Jim

I feel much "safer" against any accidental discharges as a result

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Feeling safe and being safe aren't the same. Have you ever come home to find the trigger back on your Glock? I haven't, nor has anyone else I know that carries a Glock - with or without a round chambered.

I suppose if you have poor trigger discipline and insist on putting your finger inside the trigger guard, it could be an issue. But if that's the case, maybe you shouldn't carry at all.

if I were entering a hostile or possibly dangerous situation I will chamber a round

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Why would you willingly enter a hostile or dangerous situation? I avoid places like that.

I feel better with a heavy double action trigger pull as well as an external safety

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Trigger pulls can be made heavier on a Glock. All you need is a punch and silly plastic part for about $10. Takes less than 10 minutes to install. Do a search for "NY Trigger" or "New York Trigger". Of course, heavier trigger pulls generally degrade accuracy.

Like I said earlier, IF i am entering a hostile situation I take prior actions.

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Like I said earlier, why enter a hostile situation? In such a case, use the Nike defense: turn around and leave.

walking down the street in the city is considered a hostile or dangerous situation.

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I think you need to revisit the definitions of hostile and dangerous. Or, visit other cities and/or neighborhoods.

By the time this forums over, you guys will have me carrying 2 glocks!

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In the words of Borat: "That's NICE!"

What was the point of your question? It is your choice so why bother to ask for someone else's opinion.

I would suggest that if you feel the trigger is too light to be safe, take it to a Glock certified smith and have an LEO 12 Lb trigger installed. The way you are carrying, no chambered round, simply delays your ability to defend yourself and your family, friends, etc.

Doc2005

I can draw my glock and chamber a live round in less than 2 seconds if needed...........

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Try it with a bad guy hanging off your left arm sometime.

(While he is beating you in the face with one fist, and stabbing you with a knife in the other hand.)

Carrying an empty gun for SD is just a plain bad idea!


rcmodel

I was baffled by this one until I saw that there are 12% who do it too, now I'm just plain shocked.

Find something you like that has a manual safety or a heavy DAO trigger. You want something that doesn't take 2 hands and 2 seconds (yeah, right) to make ready.

I personally carry IWB with an Uncle Mike's holster. It's made of neoprene. I bought two. One of them to test the reliability of the holster and the other because based on my previous experience with Uncle Mike's, I knew the holster would be good.

Anyway, I determined after beating tearing and almost breaking the test holster, that unless I was able to physically stick a J-hooked shaped object down into the holster, physically manipulate the object into the trigger guard, AND be able to pull the object up with enough force to activate the trigger... you will not have an AD with a Glock in the holster.

Not chambering the gun makes it a useless paper-weight. In the stress of a fight, chambering the Glock could cause it to accidentally slingshot out of your hands (especially if you are sweaty and nervous).